About Emily Lombardo

Emily Lombardo is best known for “The Caprichos” (2013), a series modeled after Francisco de Goya’s “Los Caprichos” from 1799. Whereas Goya’s etchings addressed Spanish economic, political, and religious troubles during the Age of Enlightenment, Lombardo’s 80 prints highlight contemporary social issues through a queer feminist lens. Using Goya’s work as a point of departure, Lombardo showcases recognizable figures and events—including Miley Cyrus’s act at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Marina Abramovic’s performance The Artist is Present (2010), and Damien Hirst’s diamond skull artworks—to critique the art market, international politics, gender roles, and societal expectations. Lombardo has said that she views appropriation “as a mode of investigating personal and cultural identity, placing marginalized identities in the center or skewing that axis,” and as a central element of the artist apprenticeship tradition.